What does the Eco function take more than twice as long?

[WoodenClock]

I have a new washing machine.

There's a mixed 40 degree wash which takes 1 hr 6 min or there's an Eco 40 degree wash that takes more than 2.5 hours.

That seems counter intuitive. What's it all about?

Before anyone asks, it doesn't have a 30 degree wash, only this Eco one (or 20 degrees).

It sloshes around the washing a bit and spits it out creased... well that's mu experience

It uses less agitation and more soaking so uses less energy. The power use comes from heating the water and spinning, but eco mode does less churning.

It supposedly uses less water....... but is on for at least 3 times longer so costs more in electricity. It's a con. Mind you, DH appears to love the eco cycle on the dishwasher, especially when we've got a houseful

I'd like to know this too. On our washer, we can do a 40 or even 60 degree wash which takes 59 minutes OR we can use the 30 degree eco setting which takes just over three hours. It makes absolutely no sense to me. The only thing I can assume is that eco uses less water, but screw the increased energy expenditure 😤

Ah I see you've bought a soaking machine as opposed to a washing machine. I did the same and I hate it. It takes a long time because the clothes mostly sit in water and just get a wee bit of tilting around every now and then. You could achieve the same effect with a bathtub were you so inclined.

It uses less water and energy.

It uses more soaking, as PP have said. It should use less water and less energy (in theory) as you aren't going at it so aggressively, but I'm not sure I'd the energy use thong is true if the temperature is the same. On mine the eco wash is a cold long soaking wash!

Well, a bathtub and a stick.

And nothing comes out clean!

Sheer nosiness - so you know for sure it uses more electric? Or just guessing due to program length?

I often wonder if in reality its eco for water but not power!

This is exactly the reason why I don't use the eco cycles on either my washing machine or my dishwasher. They are just far too long and inconvenient.

The only thing I can assume is that eco uses less water, but screw the increased energy expenditure 😤

It uses less energy. Although the washing is in the drum for longer, for most of that time it is sitting there stationary and is not being churned around. The motor is not going, so no electricity is being used.

It just takes longer for clothes to get clean by soaking than it does by agitation. (Your clothes will suffer less wear in the machine and last longer too by the way, another eco advantage.)

My machine tells me how much power it thinks it has used. It reports the standard 1 hour 40 cycle (-powerwash) as 1.2kw, the eco 40-60 as 0.2kw. I find both cycles clean well.

If you look in the back of the User Manual that came with the machine, there will be a breakdown of water usage in L, and energy usage in Kw/h per cycle for the model you own.

The 'e' settings usually take longer, but water and energy usage is usually reduced by a good 15-25% at least because of the completely different way the e cycles wash your clothes. You can usually reduce energy consumption even further by choosing a lower spin speed as well, it just means your clothes will be carrying a bit more residual moisture when the cycle is finished and you have to hang them a bit longer.

In general, the only time you shouldn't be using the 'e' cycle is if you are short of time/in a hurry.

I've checked the actual energy usage of my machine via the monitor that links to my smart meter, and to my surprise the listings in the manual are pretty much spot on.

Water is soft here, so detergent foams easily, there's no need for additives and such, so my clothes are just as clean on the 'e' cycle as the expedited one. There's really no reason at all, other than shortage of time, for me to use the regular cycle over the 'e'. End results are the same, but it costs more.

The most power intensive thing your washing machine will do is heat water, so less water = less power used. If you look up how much water is used in a typical vs eco cycle it's usually a lot less.

Mine doesn't clean poorly on eco, it's just as good as the normal wash. AEG. You should check in the manual if it's a lower capacity than your typical wash though, I always think that's a bit of a con. Mine can do the full capacity on everything except quick wash which is only 3kg.

It's a misconception to think because it's on for longer it's going to use more power, because it's not using the same amount of power for the whole time it's on.

Unfortunately the Eco cycle for mine is 40-60 degrees so I can only use it for sheets and towels.
I hate my new washing machine in fact. It beeps to tell you the load is greater than 4kg if you have more than about 3 things in it. Plus I'm sure it's meant to take 7kg.
I'm punishing it by attempting a home dye for a top in it this weekend.

Uses less energy because it doesn’t need to up the temperature as quickly.

@rookiemere Yeah, let it know who's boss!

A lot of that time is the cloths being soaked in soapy water, so it needs to do less spinning overall to get the cloths clean.

DH is obsessed with his smart meter, so he happily investigated and the 3 hr eco cycle used more power than than bog standard 55 min cycle every day wash.

Mind you it's a Samsung EcoBubble machine and it's been shit since the day it arrived. It likes to play a sea shanty when it finishes...... I'm surprised a marching band doesn't pop out and a few fireworks..... fucking smartarse machine. If only it was as enthusiastic at dissolving the detergent powder, my life would be a lot happier and I'd be singing a sea shanty too.

can you tell I don't like it

Oh dear, mines not that model, but it does sign when it's finished and for quite some time too....That must use unnecessary energy?

Sing when it's finsished!

I did a post recently about how rubbish my eco setting was on my dishwasher but my washing machine is actually really good.

You set whatever wash cycle you want then press the eco button and it shaves a set amount of time off.
So my 40 wash is normally 1.30, with eco it's 1.10.
60 wash is 2.20, with eco it's 1.40.

Takes off even move time if it's a 30 wash!

I've been using it for every wash lately and everything is just as clean as before.